Elliott Keeps Focus on Challenge Ahead

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Tony Elliott spent many of his formative years at Clemson—first as an engineering student and football player, later as an assistant coach—and so it’s understandable that his return to his alma mater is a major storyline in the ACC this week.

Elliott is doing his best, however, to block out external noise and prepare Virginia for its game at Clemson. At noon Saturday, the Cavaliers (4-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) meet the No. 10 Tigers (5-1, 4-0) at 81,500-seat Memorial Stadium.

“I need to apologize to some family members, some folks that have reached out,” Elliott said with a smile Tuesday during his weekly press conference at the Hardie Center.

“They’ve called me, I have not answered, I have not called back. I eventually will get back to you. [There have] been some requests and people wanting to talk, but I have a responsibility to this football team, this football program, to be laser-focused. And that’s one of the things that I learned where I came from, just how to block out the noise. So this is one of those weeks where some people are mad at me right now, but I promise you, I love you. I just need to focus.”

Elliott, who’s in his third year as head coach, came to UVA from Clemson, where he spent 11 seasons on Dabo Swinney’s staff, and the two remain close. Elliott played wide receiver at Clemson, and his position coach in his final season was Swinney.

“In terms of the relationship,” Elliott said, “he’s gone from being a father figure when he was coaching me as a player to being a mentor as a young coach in the business and then a colleague. So it’s kind of had all three phases tied in.”

Before the game, Elliott said, he and Swinney will no doubt share some smiles and laughs, “and all of that will be good. But once they blow the whistle and kick the ball off, it’s like any other game. To be honest with you, you really don’t pay attention much to what’s on the other sideline.”

Elliott said he hasn’t “had a ton of emotion going into it. There’s so much that goes into preparing for a game. That’s really all I’ve been focused on. And then I’ve also been mindful, too, that I did not want this game to be about me. And I told the players, ‘This ain’t about me. This is about you guys going down there and playing your best game. And my job is to help prepare you.’ ”

Since losing 34-3 to Georgia in the season opener, Clemson has averaged 48.6 points per game in its five victories.

“It’s gonna be fun to compete, and it’s a great test for our program to see where we are,” Elliott said. “That program there has been the standard in the league for a very long time, and they’re back playing at a very, very high level, and it looks like you got to go through them to win the league with the way that they’re playing.”

A two-year starter at center, Brian Stevens, transferred to UVA from Dayton, a non-scholarship FCS program, partly because he wanted to challenge himself against elite FBS teams.

“This a dream in college football when you get games like this,” Stevens said, “but you gotta treat everybody the same and focus on yourself.”

WELCOME TO DEATH VALLEY: The Wahoos’ tailbacks include Kobe Pace, who spent three seasons at Clemson before transferring to UVA in January 2023. Asked Tuesday what he’d tell his teammates about the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium, Pace smiled.

“I’d tell them: Get ready. It’s going to be loud, 85,000-plus. Come with your big-boy pants on.”

Virginia has played in front of one sellout crowd on the road already this season, Sept. 21 against Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. But that game drew a crowd of 22,104—a record for Brooks Stadium—and nearly four times as many fans are expected Saturday at Clemson.

Elliott said he filled in his players Monday about the atmosphere, wanting to let them “kind of see it before they get there so it doesn’t catch them off guard. And then just really challenge them to focus on themselves. I think that that’s one of the things that I value the most that I learned while I was there under Coach Swinney: It’s never about anybody else, it’s about yourself, because at the end of the day, if you take care of yourself, then you give yourself an opportunity to be successful. So we’ve got to focus on us, and then obviously we have some noise out at practice just to kind of get ready to communicate. But you can’t walk in losing to the environment. Two things that I challenge the program: Don’t lose to the [opponent’s] logo and don’t lose to the environment.”

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Until he came to UVA after the 2021 season, Elliott had never been a head coach, and he’s grown professionally since taking the job.

“I think one of the ways is I had to learn how Virginia works, all the way around,” he said. “Just learn the environment that I’m in, so that I can adapt to be the most effective. And there are some things that I brought in the door that worked where I came from that just weren’t as applicable here. And so they had to be tweaked. And so I think just having a better understanding of how the University works, how the athletic department works, just kind of how the relationship is with the program, with the community, with the fans, all of that, I’ve had to learn that. So I’d say that’s probably where the most amount of growth has taken place.

“Then also too, learning how to build relationship with the student-athletes that I have, because obviously the demands are a little bit different here. So you’re dealing with different type of young men. So I had to learn that. Then learning new coaches. So there weren’t as many folks that came from where I came from with me. And so I’ve had to learn how to kind of go back and kind of start at the beginning as opposed to when I first got here. I was running full speed, expecting everybody to catch up, but they didn’t quite understand why I was sprinting so fast or why I was doing things the way that I did things. But I think now there’s a much better understanding both ways.”

HOMECOMING OF SORTS: Virginia began the season with three former Tigers on the roster, but only one will play Saturday: Pace. Tight end Sage Ennis suffered a season-ending knee injury in UVA’s win over Coastal Carolina, and defensive back Malcolm Greene, who wanted a bigger role, recently left the program.

Pace has carried 71 times for 331 yards and two touchdowns this season, and he’s caught 13 passes for 123 yards.

Fielding questions from a scrum of reporters Tuesday, Pace acknowledged that this is not just another game for him, but said he’s focused on playing well and helping the Hoos win.

“Just seeing my guys back there I played with, that’s kind of special to me,” Pace said. “Playing against them, it’ll be special. Being [at Memorial Stadium] with a different team, I feel like that’s special. But just playing football, that’s all what I’ve been doing my whole life. So just go in there, don’t make it too big for yourself. Just go play football, have fun.”

BALL SECURITY: In its 27-13 loss to Maryland on Sept. 14, Virginia turned the ball over four times. Since then, however, the Cavaliers have played three consecutive clean games.

“Knock on wood,” Elliott said.

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who threw two interceptions and lost a fumble against the Terps, has done a much better job recently “of taking care of the football,” Elliott said. “I think he’s learning every single week kind of the totality of the job that he has.

“It’s a big transition when you go from high school to being the starter at the Power 4 level. There’s a lot that you’re responsible for. So I think each week he’s learning, and the biggest thing is just taking care of the ball. He’s grown in that area and he’s understanding that it’s preparation that leads to that so that he can be decisive. And when he’s decisive, he’s very effective too.”

Colandrea is a gifted runner who’s carried 64 times for 242 yards and two touchdowns this season. No longer does he recklessly challenge defenders.

“You’ve seen him slide a little bit more and step out of bounds,” Elliott said, “so he doesn’t take those unnecessary hits, and I think he understands now that that’s not an indictment or saying you have a lack of toughness That’s actually being smart because you’re a quarterback. You don’t need to take those hits.”

POINT OF EMPHASIS: Virginia has scored on 21 of its 27 trips to the red zone this season. Only 10 of those 27 possessions, however, have ended in touchdowns.

“It’s kind of been a trend, and we’ve really been trying to attack that,” Stevens said. “We’ve got be better in the red zone, flat out, and we’ve been trying to change up some things and doing some stuff in regards to trying to fix that area.”

QUICK STUDIES: Of the seven true freshmen who have played for UVA this season, only safety Ethan Minter (six) and wide receiver Kameron Courtney (five) have appeared in more than two games.

Defensive end Billy Koudelka has played in two, and tight end John Rogers and offensive linemen Grant Ellinger, Ben York and Dane Wleklinski have appeared in one apiece.

Minter and Courtney enrolled at UVA in January, and “from the time they showed up kind of stood out as guys that will probably be able to make the transition quicker and be ready to go,” Elliott said.

Some of their classmates are at positions where Virginia has more depth and experience, but “we hope that down the stretch we can take advantage of at least the four-game rule with a lot of our young guys,” Elliott said. “But you never know injury-wise; there may be some other young guys that get elevated up pretty quickly.”

A college player may appear in four games without losing that season of eligibility.

Ellinger, who’s listed as Stevens’ backup on the depth chart, is from Naperville, Ill., and Stevens is from Milford, Ohio. So the two of them have “a Midwest connection there,” Stevens said.

“Grant’s great. He brings a great attitude. He’s wanting to pick up things that I’ve learned along the way. You have to practice. You’ve got to get in the film room. You’ve got to pay attention to your playbook. Just little minute details that somebody’s got to [point out].”

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